NextFest

I don't set the schedule for the fests. I've just been asking for a shorter one forever. People complain about the six-minute time limit, but if we changed it to, say, 20 minutes -- it'd take like four days to watch all the entries! :)

Whereas with a shorter time limit, it changes the whole type of story one would even attempt. You'd think about it differently. We've had people try to cram a 20-minute story into the six-minute runtime, and it just doesn't work at all. But with 2 minutes, nobody'd even try that (I hope). They'd recognize 2 minutes as its own art form.

The "On The Lot" comedies may have been mediocre, but those guys had a sixty-second time limit. Two minutes is twice as much time! :evil:

Anyway, I'd just like to see it shaken up a bit, get people thinking outside the box, and I think changing the shape of the box (i.e., drastically cutting the alloted runtime) would be enough of a change that it would really change the fest. We'd probably get a whole wave of new people entering, we'd get different types of films entered, etc.
 
As would I! :)

*Edit: Actually, I just thought of what I'm going to do for it. Now I'm all giddy! :grin:
 
Last edited:
Barry:

Shorter is better for me since I never have any ideas that seem to last longer than two pages anyway. My working form has always leaned toward nonlinear, non-narrative themes as well. I guess my work often falls under the category of "under-developed story" or simply as (shudder) "art film." I've been trying to make "stream of consciousness" kinds of films, yet haven't quite gotten it down yet. Since I'm always weak on story, the shorter format would only benefit me.

On another note, I think the "open to all cameras" rule should stay INDEFINITELY. As you all can see, this did not necessarily open the contest up to hundreds more entrants, all shooting with FX1s, or all shooting with F900s. It shook out quite nicely, I thought. And as you'll see from my SpyFest entry, just having a great camera did NOT make up for a weak story, or unfinished plot. I think the "content is king" standard of measure for filmmaking here is still the greatest leveler of playing fields--not the camera by which we chose to shoot. Hopefully, ALL future DVXUSER contests will continue to consider cameras of all makes.
 
Last edited:
I think warfest would be a good genre to tackle next. Between this fest and the last we havent had much action or excitement. War movies would really be a good way to break free of what has been going on lately and summer is the perfect time to do it.
 
Last edited:
Having participated in the San Francisco 3-minute film festival a number of times I think that 3 minutes is a good length we should move to as opposed to 2 minutes.
 
If the fest has a shorter time limit i think there should be a shorter amount of time allotted to make it. 3 months of buildup would be an awful lot for something thats only 1 or 2 minutes long.

I dont really dig the idea of a short short film festival though. Six minutes seems short enough.
 
Next fest will definitely be a new topic--no repeats yet. But this thread is so entertaining, I wouldn't want to announce anything too soon and end it.:beer:
 
We had drama, wouldn't comedy make sense? There are people on this site that are riots. I for one hope it won't go less 6 minutes regrardless.
 
Barry_S said:
Next fest will definitely be a new topic--no repeats yet. But this thread is so entertaining, I wouldn't want to announce anything too soon and end it.:beer:
Click to expand...

Argh... not even a hint man ;) if you do have any ideas... would be nice to know an idea.. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top